A journey to search my soul

This is a blog of my personal collections. The purpose of this blog is to educate myself and public in regards to antiquities especially related to religion and calligraphy. I welcome everyone to input their feedback in this blog which they think would be helpful. I do not watermark the photos in this blog so everyone is free to use them as long as they are not used for illegal and unethical reasons. I appreciate if you could notify me if you plan to use any of the photos here. Enjoy browsing!!

Sunday, October 30, 2011

I am a bit excited this week. Expecting arrival of some antique Qurans from Africa & Pakistan. The one from Africa is couriered via FEDEX whereas from Pakistan is already in country awaiting my collection. Insyallah hope to receive them this week so I could post some pictures.

This is an unique old Ottoman handwritten Quran. Originally this complete Quran was in 30 separate books. However my dealer as well as my friend in Istanbul decided to bind all of them together. It turned out to be a brilliant idea. Every start page of each juz/segment is illuminated with gold and colorful motives. Copied in 1155 AH ( 1742 CE).
Manuscript Specs

This is an old Indo-Persian handwritten Quran. There is no illumination in any of the pages however the design of this Quran is unique. This Quran was written in 2 size of Naskh Script. This Quran is dated 1143 AH ( 1730 CE)copied by Faqir Abdul Salam. This Quran is complete

Monday, October 24, 2011

I spent few hours tonight practising my Arabic calligraphy. I took calligraphy lesson when I was in Istanbul in 2010. It has been a while since I did my last calligraphy work. It's a shame to forget the correct proportion of the letters. However after a few exercises, everything came back. Writing calligraphy in Naskh is not that difficult.There are few other script types which are more difficult and require more graceness in the writing. They are Riqah, Thuluth, Farsi, Dewani & Kufi. Insyallah if I have more time, I will write some stuff about these scripts. These are the most popular scripts utilised in creating artistic calligraphy.
While writing this blog, suddenly an idea gushed into my mind. My not creating a calligraphy art using other scripts for example maghribi script, Afriqi script, Sudanese script or Bihari script? I like the idea of creating calligraphy art with Bihari script especially because this script has extincted few hundred years ago. Interesting? I should give a try...

Thursday, October 20, 2011

I purchased this cutting tool few weeks ago. The feeling is just AWESOME!! With this tool, I could cut & design my frame mat in a professional way. I remember in the old day I used to cut a mat with a blade and pathetically created a v groove on its surface which panned out with sloopy looking. I dont want to explain further as some people dont really understand what I am talking about. Just look at these pictures and you will get it.

This is the tool. Actually its a combo of mat Cutter 700-s + V Groover 703

This is the initial product

And walla!! The finished products

And what can I do with this mat?? Here's what I am talking about..making my work of art or antique leaf looks gorgeous!!

This is an old Persian handwritten Quran. The first 2 pages are decorated with gold water. Most pages have gold discs and notes in Farsi on the outer margin. This Quran is dated 1099 AH ( 1688 CE). This Quran is complete however most pages are water stained.

This is a small size Indian handwritten Quran. The first 2 pages are decorated with gold water & blue marble. In addition to that, there are 7 stages ( Manzil) of Quran where the pages are decorated with gold floral motives. This is the first time I have seen such Quran and I am so pleased to have acquired it. This Quran is complete and in an excellent condition.
Manuscript Specs